‘Le Grand Voyage’ is written and directed by Ismael Ferroukhi. It stirs up the issue of ‘Beur Generatin’ who are the children of immigrant and their clash with ancestral culture.
The story is about an immigrant father (Mohamed Majd) who forces his secular younger son to drive him from Marseille to Mecca. The son, Reda (Nicolas Cazale), cannot refuse his father’s decision; therefore, he gives up himself to his dominant father. During the beginning of the journey there is an intense communication between the father and the son that almost end up with argument. In their way, they encounter some incidents that only create more turmoil in their relationship. When they almost reach Mecca, Reda asks his father about the particularity of the place (Mecca), and the father explains to him the role of pilgrimage as an important ritual in Islamic religion. In the last scenes, Reda and his father try to understand each other seeking for better understanding for each one’s world even if they live under the same roof.
‘le grand voyage’ represents not only a father and a son relationship, but it sheds light into east and west relationship; an east that most of its population are Muslims and a secular west. This ideological background hinders communication. The movie also stresses on the patriarchy in which any mean of communication between the father and his son is blown off. Thus, the movie teaches us to listen, understand, and respect the other no matter who they are. In addition, the director ends his movie with the voice of Amina Alaoui singing a Sufi song of Ibn Arabi :
My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles
and a convent for Christian monks, and a temple for idols and the
pilgrim’s Kaaba, and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love that is my religion and my faith.
The movie was released in France on November 24, 2004 and won several awards. Once finished watching it, I could not help projecting myself as a Moroccan on the idea of estrangement and alienation of who ever that does not belong to the club. Thus, Ferroukhi succeeded to represent the issue well and push people to reconsider their attitudes.
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